The Deal with the Devils
by Andromeda Khun
Summary: Ginny Weasley desperately needs a miracle. However, unless her powers of prophecy work on a pumpkin, she will need a different way to get her miracle.


Author's Note

House: Eagles

Class: Care of Magical Creatures

Category: Drabble

Prompt: Action: Carving Pumpkins

Word Count: 903

Everybody in Trelawney's classes knew she was barmy. In her third-year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class, though, Trelawney was downright vengeful. Ever since a group of Ravenclaws in that class had challenged Trelawney's Inner Eye, the Divinations teacher seemed determined to fail the whole class.

This would be irrelevant if Ginny weren't part of that class. But of course, she was.

Thus, her Divinations grade was terrible, and Mum had said she couldn't play Quidditch next year if she failed. And losing her chance to play Quidditch was unacceptable.

So it was with a heavy heart that Ginny climbed the ladder to her Divinations class. With a sigh, she slid into her seat next to Luna Lovegood.

Luna smiled at her and whispered, "Don't worry. I wouldn't make any other friends even if I could."

Shaking her head, Ginny replied, "Luna, I'm sorry, but I'm not worried about that right now. My Quidditch future is at stake because that old bat won't give us a fair assignment."

"Yes… predicting what places Trelawney would dream about was a little unfair. Who would have guessed that she dreamt about garbage barges so much?

Ginny said, "Exactly. So that means we need to somehow be flawless at something that isn't even proper Divination. Like foretelling who will walk through a door." The worst part of this whole ordeal was that she only needed one perfect Divinations score to barely pass. But that wasn't going to happen as long as Trelawney wanted to hold a grudge.

Luna dreamily stared at apparently empty space. "Well, I made a deal with the devil-or should I say devils-for you."

"What-" Suddenly, a rather large pumpkin flew at Ginny's face and stopped, centimeters from her nose.

Professor Trelawney flicked her wand, and the pumpkin dropped onto the floor. Around Ginny, other pumpkins which had been hovering in front of other students also fell. "Good morning," the Divinations Professor said mysteriously, "Today we will be stabbing squash into shapes. It is a Muggle tradition, but after attempting it, I have realized that it can channel the Sight." She paused dramatically as the third-year students traded looks of disbelief. Then she continued, "You will be predicting what I eat for supper tonight. Begin."

With that, Professor Trelawney perched herself on a pink armchair and began stroking her shawl.

Ginny almost drew her wand to hex the insufferable witch. Predict which food someone else would eat?! In a third-year Divinations class? Then she took a deep breath and set her mouth in a firm line.

"Ginny," Luna said with a vague smile, "you look as though you are about to fight a Bugbear. Can I help?"

Smiling back, Ginny replied, "Not this time. Right now I need to focus, I need to _make _this pumpkin prophesy a meal."

Grabbing a knife, she kneeled in front of the pumpkin and prayed that Dumbledore, her father, or even Merlin would intervene on her behalf. With bated breath, feeling like a complete idiot, she closed her eyes and willed the Inner Eye to open.

The knife in Ginny's hand began to move of its own accord.

She opened her eyes in shock, then closed them again. If her Sight had somehow started working, she was not questioning it. Even if it was a little suspicious, as she couldn't even predict what she wanted for dinner, let alone what _Trelawney_ would eat tonight.

If this wasn't the Sight though… her grade was doomed.

Against the knife's promptings, Ginny pulled the knife away from the pumpkin. She glanced about the room, but did not notice anyone suspiciously holding a wand. Then a familiar voice muttered in her ear, "Get back to carving, Ginny. If you want a good grade don't resist the charm on the knife."

Narrowing her eyes and noticing a faint shimmer in the air next to her, Ginny whispered, "George? Is Fred there too?"

"No, this is _Percy_ breaking the rules for you. Of course it's us! Now get back to carving."

"Wait, but you two are horrible at Divinations!"

"Just trust us. We have a plan, and we'll explain later."

Shaking her head, Ginny turned back to the pumpkin and allowed the knife to continue carving.

* * *

Once Ginny and Luna had left the Divinations classroom and the hall had cleared, Ginny immediately turned to the shimmer in space where she suspected her brothers were. "What was _that _all about?"

"Well, Weasleys look after their own and-"

"-Luna over there brought this to our attention. And funded us."

"Really?"

"Well," Luna said hazily, "I did say that I had made a deal with the devils."

Ginny frowned. "Wait. But how did you know your foretelling will be correct?"

"I have a friend who uses a Time Turner to get to his classes. He usually does little things for us if we cough up the dough. We're going to tell him what to do soon, then he'll watch Trelawney tonight, and he reported back to us before your class." Fred and George bowed to Luna, saying in unison, "As you requested, a perfect plan." They walked away, laughing.

"Thank you." Ginny pulled Luna into a hug. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Luna awkwardly patted her back. "What are friends for?"

Smiling, Ginny walked with Luna back to the Great Hall, already planning her next move to get on the Quidditch team next year.


End file.
